News

Japanese Box Office, January 4-5

Lupin III vs. Detective Conan The Movie stayed at #2 during its fifth weekend. In the film, the "Cherry Sapphire," an illusive secret treasure that holds the key to the entire world, will bring the two titular characters in a "head-to-head confrontation." Lupin is suspected of stealing the gem, and "when the truth is revealed, the curtain will open on the greatest battle in the world." The film earned 223,221,333 yen (US$2,143,594) on 330 screens for a new total of 3,560,137,396 yen (US$34,187,999)

The live-action film adaptation of Kotomi Aoki's Kanojo wa Uso o Ai Shisugiteru manga stayed at #5 in its fourth weekend. The story centers around Aki Ogasawara (played by Rurouni Kenshin's Takeru Satoh), a "sound creator" who composes for the popular band Crude Play and earns over 100 million yen (about US$1.3 million) a year. Despite this, he conceals all of this and calls himself a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). Seeking a life outside of music, he begins seeing a high school girl named Riko Koeda (played by newcomer Sakurako Ōhara). However, what Aki does not know is that Riko is actually a huge fan of Aki's music. Even with his girlfriend, Aki cannot escape the world of music. The film earned 112,076,059 yen (US$1,076,266) on 284 screens for a new total of 1,202,951,086 yen (US$11,551,939).

The Hunter × Hunter -The Last Mission- film fell from #3 to #6 in its second weekend. The story of the second film adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter x Hunter manga revolves around the dark history of the strongest Hunters that once existed in the Hunters Association that were split into "light" and "dark," with each walking down their respective paths. The "dark" side begins moving in order to massacre all Hunters, and both Killua and Kurapika are caught up in the violence and are injured. What is the dark secret behind Netero, the strongest Nen-user and the chairman of the Hunter Association? The film ranked at #7 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 83,558,840 yen (US$802,415) on 258 screens for a new total of 572,999,208 yen (US$5,502,511).

Kaguya-hime no Monogatari (The Tale of Princess Kaguya), the latest film from Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, rose from #9 to #7 during its seventh weekend. The film is based on the famous Japanese folktale Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), which centers on a princess named Kaguya who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. The film ranked at #6 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 83,571,105 yen (US$802,533) on 456 screens for a new total of 2,014,535,721 yen (US$19,345,586).

Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard Tenkawakeme no Sengoku Movie Daigassen, the Movie War crossover between Kamen Rider Gaim and Kamen Rider Wizard, fell from #7 to #8 in its fourth weekend. The film ranked at #9 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 75,968,938 yen (US$729,529) on 286 screens for a new total of 852,098,704 yen (US$8,182,703).

Travel back in time (and maybe have your gender swapped) to seven different periods of Japanese history, all from the comfort of your couch.― The history of Japanese civilization is expansive, predating the Common Era by 10,000 years (the Jomon period). There's much more ground to cover compared to what kids get in U.S. history classes in high school, which rarely cover anything before the Boston T...

Junji Ito's death-stench horror gets the deluxe treatment with a new hardcover omnibus, but the subject matter might not work for everyone.― Junji Ito is inarguably one of the masters of horror manga, utilizing both horror (physical revulsion) and terror (psychological reaction) to create gut-churning tales of the world gone mad. To a degree, he carries this out in his two-volume series Gyo from 200...

Voice actor/director/professional Dungeons & Dragons player Liam O'Brien returns to the podcast after a 5-year hiatus to discuss his roles in Fate/Zero and Sailor Moon, along with the landscape for anime voice acting now and what it's like to be Gollum.― ANNCast Episode 234: Podcastoes O'Brien Get the Flash Player to see this player. Voice actor/director/professional Dungeons & Dragons player Liam ...

If you went to an anime convention this summer or have used the internet lately, you may notice anime fans seem to have fallen in love with Steven Universe. Why? Because the show loves them right back.― If you've been to an anime convention in the past year, you've probably seen colorful, gem-studded cosplay like this filling the hallways. Photo credit links: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom...

If you've got questions for the director of the high-flying fantasy series The Pilot's Love Song, we've potentially got answers for you!― We've been given the opportunity to interview The Pilot's Love Song director Toshimasa Suzuki, and we need your help! NISA, who will be releasing the fantasy action drama The Pilot's Love Song on bluray September 22nd, asked for fan questions for Mr. Suzuki, whos...

Bee-Train's 2001 girls-with-guns classic returns on Blu-Ray, and holds up surprisingly well, despite some mediocre animation.― Not all older series deserve the Blu-Ray treatment. For some it is because the show just isn't as iconic as people might like to think, while for others it's because the quality was never BD worthy in the first place. Noir, fortunately, does hold up well enough that its tran...

Egypt Arc is JoJo in peak condition, as memorable and engaging an adventure as you could hope for. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is back.― When we last left our heroes, they'd just arrived on the shores of Egypt, escaping the literal jaws of defeat in order to finally save Jotaro's mother. The journey there had been a lengthy and sometimes inconsistent one, with their various adventures indeed being plen...

The creator of the hit manga, recently adapted into a popular anime series, talks about her inspirations, how she got her start, and what it's like to watch your manga become a TV show.― As you might guess from the story, the main character of the story is a high school roughneck named Ryu Yamada. Yamada meets cute, quiet, and studious Urara Shiraishi, who is his complete opposite in almost every wa...